The Rise and Fall of Will Ferrell
This week sees the release of the latest Will Ferrell film, The Other Guys. Telling you this film is a comedy is akin to making the Earth-shattering announcement that the theater in which you see it will be serving popcorn. Ferrell has made an indelible mark on comedy and become, like it or not, the face of the genre for an entire generation. I will in no way pretend that his work hasn’t elicited more than a few laughs from me and I do sincerely think the guy is a comic genius. That being said, I don’t think I’m alone in noticing a marked decline in the quality of his work as of late. In an effort to understand this slump, I think it’s important to examine his body of work as a whole.
Will Ferrell, like many comedic movie stars, cut his teeth on Saturday Night Live. He entered the cast during the twilight of the era of Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley. To adopt comic book parlance, I consider this the silver age of SNL. I am sure more than a few producers were concerned about the longevity of the show, even in its 21st season, upon losing that lineup. But along came the likes of Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri, and a bizarre giant by the name of Will Ferrell. A new dynasty was born.
When Hollywood could no longer ignore Ferrell’s talent, his early movie career exemplified the proverbial mixed bag. It began as a memorable cameo in a Mike Myers' passion project: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. As if to solidify the existence of the curse of SNL properties adapted to film, Ferrell followed his excellent turn in Austin Powers with bombs A Night at the Roxbury and Superstar. But amidst the abysmal SNL adaptations, he also delivered much smarter comedy gold in Dick.
While I happen to enjoy Zoolander, and more specifically, Ferrell’s performance as Mugatu, the film that really propelled his career was undoubtedly Old School. That was the film that showed just enough of his range to convince people that this wasn’t just an SNL funnyman, but a potential movie star as well. He then displayed even more range and heart with John Favreau’s Elf, which has become one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. If Ferrell had people convinced he could be a comedy frontman with Old School, it was Anchorman that made Hollywood realize just what kind of major player he could be.
As much as I love Anchorman, and believe it to be a superb comedy, this success was a mixed blessing for Ferrell and the source of his current stagnation. I’m sure some of you are questioning my mental faculties right now, and I don’t blame you, but Anchorman truly created a monster. As heartily as we all laughed at the blundering, misogynistic buffoon that was Ron Burgundy, we didn’t realize Ferrell would play this same character for the next four years. This developmentally arrested man-boy would rear his head in Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, and Step Brothers.
It’s one thing to create an incredibly unique character and play the part to perfection once, but it’s quite another to beat a dead horse until one becomes a parody of oneself. In the midst of all this, Ferrell did attempt to flex his comedic and thespian muscles with films like Melinda and Melinda, Winter Passing, and Stranger Than Fiction. All great performances, all largely unheralded at the box office. I believe the lack of commercial success for his more artistic endeavors is what drove Ferrell time and time again back to this tired but tried-and-true formula. I also believe this is exactly why he’s struggled of late trying to break away from that archetype. Ferrell’s only vehicle since the last gasp of the dying man-boy persona (in Step Brothers) was the unfortunate Land of the Lost, which failed to deliver, to put it lightly.
It’s interesting to me, and really telling when you think about it, that since Stranger Than Fiction, Ferrell’s best work has been in cameos and internet memes. His series of web shorts featuring a precocious little costar were hysterical, my favorite being “The Landlord,” and his stint on Eastbound and Down was fantastic. Hopefully, the very fragile and meek police officer in The Other Guys will be the role that snaps his losing streak and definitively breaks him free of Ron Burgundy.

These are now the Dog Days of summer: languid, hot, unhurried. TV, too, slows to a trickle in the heat of the day, perking up only on cool Sunday nights like some desert animal. These are the days Best of Seven is more important than ever. Though Mad Men is back and True Blood is finally hitting its stride, this is the high season for repeats and Say Yes to the Dress marathons. There's watchable TV out there to be sure, but you'll need our help if you want to navigate summer TV's arid landscape without getting burned.
Monday
7PM: Entourage, Spike TV. Spike's replaying two of Entourage's better episodes from the show's excellent first season - "The Script and the Sherpa" and "Busey and the Beach" - both of which will remind you why the show got so much hype in the first place (it's easy to forget now that Vince et al. have become so tired and unfunny in their seventh season).
8PM: Armageddon, FX. There's no better summer movie, except maybe Independence Day, than this explosion-filled, big ensemble blockbuster from the infamous Michael Bay. Bruce Willis leads a team of roughneck oil drillers (including Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, and Owen Wilson) charged with assisting a top-secret NASA mission to destroy an asteroid hurtling towards Earth.
Tuesday
9PM: Master Chef, Fox. I haven't seen this show yet, but if you like Hell's Kitchen, I imagine it's somewhat similar. Chef Gordon Ramsay takes a bunch of amateur chefs and tries to mold them into "professionals," presumably not without a fair amount of yelling, cursing, and cathartic breakthroughs. Tasty!
11PM: The Daily Show, Comedy Central. Fareed Zakaria joins our affable host to talk about arcane concepts like "America" and "Globalization." Then take the edge off with the decidedly sillier Colbert Report at 11:30, with guest Kevin Kline.
Wednesday
7PM: Mythbusters, Discovery. Mythbusters is at its best when Jamie and Adam are attempting their most audacious "experiments" i.e. blowing things up - which is why I'm totally sold on this episode, wherein "Jamie and Adam detonate their largest explosion to test a World War II myth."
9:45PM: Halloween, IFC. John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic is the perfect remedy for the summer's heat. The original Mike Myers slasher flick made Carpenter's career, and will chill you to the bone.
Thursday
7PM: Seinfeld, TBS. In this Emmy-nominated episode, "The Yada Yada," George's new girlfriend is fond of the expression "yada yada yada," and Jerry becomes uncomfortable when his newly converted dentist starts cracking Jewish jokes.
10PM: Jersey Shore, MTV. Tonight's the second season premiere of the pop culture phenomenon, promising a whole lot of more of the same, which is just fine by me. What's really got me intrigued, though, is the prospect of watching these delusional, reality-whoring excuses for three-dimensional human beings now that they've become self-aware. The fourth wall has been destroyed so many times I don't even know where we're at. Theorists will have to invent new jargon for what this second season promises. A television (and cultural) event not to be missed!
Friday
8PM: JFK, AMC. This movie is going to take you until midnight if you watch it with commercial breaks, but it's really worth your time, I promise! Kevin Costner stars in this 1991 flick from director Oliver Stone, about a New Orleans District Attorney who believes there is more to the Kennedy assassination than meets the eye. This is an edge-of-your-seat thriller, even at 3 hours long, based on the true story of attorney Jim Garrison, who led a widely publicized investigation into the Kennedy assassination "plot" from 1966-1969. As with any good conspiracy theory, a perfect mix of fact and speculation.
11PM: How I Met Your Mother, Lifetime. I've watched How I Met Your Mother so many times that at this point I just call it 'HIMYM,' which rolls off the tongue quite nicely when you get used to it. "The Naked Man" and "The Fight" are two of the best episodes from the fourth season, being delightfully light on Ted Mosby drama, which is such a drag on an otherwise hilarious show. Great to watch again if you're already a fan, or a good sampling of the show at its best for the curious first-time viewer.
Saturday
8PM: Flightplan, ABC. Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard star in this perfectly adequate time-waster, about a recently-widowed aircraft designer forced to prove her own sanity when her daughter goes missing aboard one of her own planes. All things being equal, this 2005 thriller is pretty good fun, with a nice atmosphere of ominousness throughout.
9PM: Jackass, MTV2. Three hours of back-to-back, white-knuckle, stomach-turning, hair-raising tomfoolery from Johnny Knoxville and his gang of merry pranksters. The perfect summer cocktail.
Sunday
8PM: Rubicon, AMC. It's not too late to get started with this promising mystery/thriller, the latest from the network that brought you Mad Men and Breaking Bad. First up is the pilot "Gone in the Teeth," followed by the second episode, "The First Day of School" at 9PM. James Badge Dale stars as an intelligence analyst who begins to discover the agency he works for may be more than it seems.
11PM: Predator, G4. If you enjoyed the new Predators movie with Adrien Brody or are just looking for a classic action pic to take your mind off the coming week, look no further than the 1987 original. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads a team of commandos on a mission in the Central American jungle, who find themselves being hunted by an alien warrior.

Animation particularly when it comes out of the Disney/Pixar stable is one of those areas of filmmaking that regularly inspires the phrase "They don't make them like they used to." In the case of Toy Story 3 however it's more accurate to say "They have never made them like this." It's certainly not unheard of for an animated film to be good for a Pixar film to be great or for the third film in a trilogy to be outstanding (though that's the rarest of the three) but in the case of Lee Unkrich's film the sheer degree at which it exceeds at all three is not just rare it's unprecedented.
Eleven years have elapsed since Woody (Tom Hanks) Buzz (Tim Allen) and all of Andy's favorite playthings had their last adventure -- rather 11 years have elapsed since Andy stopped playing with his toys. Buoyed by Woody's never-failing devotion the gang is all optimistic that Andy will elect to bring them with him to his first year of college but as that fateful empty-nest day approaches it becomes clearer and clearer that the only toy that will be making the trek to school is Woody. The rest are all by a series of unfortunate events consigned to live out their remaining days at Sunnyside daycare. Things are actually looking up for the neglected entertainers until they realize just how careless the ankle-biters are when it comes to playing with toys.
Unfortunately there is no escape in sight for the lovable personalities Pixar has been refining for over a decade. Lotso Huggin' Bear (Ned Beatty) runs a tight ship at Sunnyside; the new toys are just going to have to be sacrificed to the aggressive toddlers so the old veterans can have a relaxing time with their more mature counterparts. Eventually Woody catches wind of what kind of life his old pals are being forced to live and Toy Story 3 quite brilliantly becomes a riff on classic prison escape movies as Woody seeks to breach Lotso's security measures and bring his bunch back to Andy where they belong. And while this on-the-run chunk of the film is some of the most thrilling material Pixar has ever delivered it's also some of the most touching.
Unlike most sequels not a moment of Toy Story 3 feels artificial. There's no sense that Pixar decided to make a third film because it knew that the box office would gladly support another entry; no sense that this is a cash grab (unlike a certain green ogre's most recent trip to the big screen). All of those typical sequel pitfalls are carefully avoided by a swelling sense of finality. Toy Story 3 isn't just another adventure with these characters -- there is in fact no doubt that this is their final adventure their final hoorah together. Director Lee Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt meticulously lead the audience along with bated breath the entire time culminating in a life-or-death scenario for the toys that is more heartfelt and genuine than most live-action films can ever muster.
It's astonishing how the creative team at Pixar can make you forget that what you're watching is all a bunch of digital wizardry. Maybe it's the 3D this time around maybe it's that this is the studio's most accomplished technical feat to date (there are single shots at a landfill that pack in richer detail than the entirety of the pioneering first film) that makes Toy Story 3 such an immersive experience. Or maybe it's simply because Pixar treats its property which is ostensibly for children with the utmost sincerity. The result is an overwhelming success the rare kind of film that were it a human being would be your best friend.
One could reasonably make the case that Toy Story 3 is the single best animated film ever made. I wouldn't outright agree with such grandiose claims but it's certainly not a baseless proposition that you'd be laughed at for bringing up. However with part three now tucked under Pixar's belt one could present an even better case that Toy Story is the best film trilogy ever made -- a claim I am far more comfortable signing on the dotted line for.

The Cat pulled a load of cash out of his Hat this weekend at the box office.Proving you can have fun if you know how, Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat thing-a-ma-jigged its way to No. 1, opening with a respectable $40.1 million*, but paled in comparison to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the previous Seuss' adaptation, which opened in 2000 with $55 million.Though mostly lambasted by film critics, The Cat in the Hat may hold up well through the holidays, Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press. "Little kids, they want what they want, and they don't care about reviews," Dergarabedian said. "Parents do have some say in the decision, but most of the time they'll just go along with the kids." The ghostly Gothika also debuted strongly, taking second place with $19.6 million, while last week's No.1 Elf dropped to third with $19.1 million. The historical Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World captured the fourth spot with $15.2 million, and rounding the top five was the sweetly romantic Love Actually with $9.1 million.THE TOP TENUniversal Pictures' PG-rated Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat became box office champion on its opening weekend with an ESTIMATED $40.1 million at 3,265 theaters. Its $12,282 per theater average was the highest of any film opening wide this week.This colorful adaptation of the children's classic tale is about two kids visited on a rainy day by a six-foot talking Cat in an oversized red-striped Hat who shows them how to have fun.Directed by Bo Welch, it stars Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin, Kelly Preston, Alec Baldwin and Sean Hayes.Warner Bros.' R-rated spooky thriller Gothika took second place with an ESTIMATED $19.6 million at 2,382 theaters ($8,237 per theater).The story follows a criminal psychologist who finds herself in a nightmarish situation when she wakes up in a prison for the criminally insane without any memory of killing her husband. Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, it stars Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Penelope Cruz and Bernard Hill.Last week's champ, New Line Cinema's PG-rated holiday comedy Elf dropped to third in its third week of release with an ESTIMATED $19.1 million (-27%) at 3,381 theaters (unchanged; $5,657 per theater). Its cume is approximately $95.1 million.Directed by Jon Favreau, it stars Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, Zooey Deschanel and Mary Steenburgen.Twentieth Century Fox's PG-13-rated naval epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World fell to the fourth spot in its second week with an ESTIMATED $15.2 million (-39%) at 3,101 theaters (unchanged; $4,902 per theater). Its cume is approximately 47.2 million.Directed by Peter Weir, it stars Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany.Universal Pictures' R-rated romantic comedy Love Actually actually jumped up a spot to No. 5 in its third week with an ESTIMATED $8.8 million (+5%) in 1,690 theaters (+513 theaters; $5,385 per theater). Its cume is approximately $30.8 million.Directed and written by Richard Curtis, it stars Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and Bill Nighy.*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.Warner Bros. R-rated sci-fi actioner The Matrix Revolutions dropped three notches to sixth place in its third week with an ESTIMATED $6.7 million (-59%) in 3,024 theaters (-478; $2,229 per theater). Its cume is approximately $125 million.Directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, it stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving.Buena Vista's G-rated animated film Brother Bear slipped three spots to seventh place in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $5.5 million (-54%) in 2,885 theaters (unchanged; $1,905 per theater). Its cume is approximately $70.4 million. Directed by Aaron Blaise and Bob Walker, it features the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, D.B. Sweeney and Michael Clarke Duncan.Warner Bros.' PG-rated live-action feature Looney Tunes: Back in Action dropped three rungs to No. 8 in its second week with an ESTIMATED $4.1 million (-56%) in 2,903 theaters (unchanged; $1,414 per theater average). Its cume is approximately 14.7 million.Directed by Joe Dante, it stars Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Timothy Dalton and Heather Locklear.Dimension Films' PG-13-rated spoof Scary Movie 3 fell two spots to ninth place in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $3.2 million (-44%) in 2,359 theaters (-601 theaters; $1,392 per theater). Its cume is approximately $106.6 million. Directed by David Zucker, it stars Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, George Carlin and Leslie Nielsen.Sony Pictures' PG-13-rated drama Radio slid down two notches to 10th position in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $2.6 million (-46%) in 1,925 theaters (-491 theaters; $1,351 per theater). Its cume is approximately $47 million.Directed by Michael Tollin, it stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ed Harris.OTHER OPENINGSFocus Features' R-rated 21 Grams opened in eight theaters with $256,434, a $32,054 per theater average.Following the lives of three people--a college professor balanced between life and death, a woman who has matured after her reckless past, and a religious ex-con struggling to provide for two children. A tragic accident that claims several lives places these people in each other's orbit. Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, it stars Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts.WEEKEND COMPARISON The Top 12 films this weekend grossed an ESTIMATED $128.8 million, up 5.55 percent from last weekend's $122.1 million take but down 11 percent from last year's $144.9 million.Last year, MGM's PG-13-rated Die Another Day opened in first place with $47 million at 3,314 theaters ($14,204 per theater); Warner Bros.' PG-rated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets dropped to second with $42.2 million in 3,682 theaters ($11,469 per theater); and New Line Cinema's R-rated Friday After Next debuted in the third spot with $13 million at 1,616 theaters ($8,051 per theater).
Go to our Box Office section for recent weekend movie analysis.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT?
Claire is an attractive CIA operative and Ray is an M16 agent who simultaneously leave their Governmental spy activities in the dust to try and profit from a battle between two rival multi-national corporations both trying to launch a new product that will transform the world and make billions. Their goal is to secure the top-secret formula and get a patent before they are outsmarted. While their respective egomaniacal CEOs engage in an unending battle of wills and one-upmanship Claire and Ray start out conning and playing one another in a clever game of industrial espionage that is even more complicated due to their own long-term romantic relationship.
WHO’S IN IT?
Reuniting Closer co-stars Julia Roberts (as Claire) and Clive Owen (as Ray) turns out to be an inspired idea. They turn out to be the perfect pair oozing movie-star charm and electricity in this elaborate con-game that might have been the kind of thing Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant might have made in the '60s (in fact they did in Charade). Roberts with that infamous hairstyle back the way we like it and Owen looking great in sunglasses prove they have what it takes to navigate us through this ultra-complex plot in which no one is sure who they can trust at any given moment. They play it all in high style and the wit just flows as the story skirts back and forth during the period of five years. The supporting cast is well-chosen with juicy roles for Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti (out of their John Adams duds) as the two CEOs going for each other’s throats. Giamatti who sometimes has a tendency to overdo it is especially slimy here and great fun to watch.
WHAT’S GOOD?
Big-star studio movies today rarely take risks and often talk down to the audience but in Duplicity writer/director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) has crafted a complicated con-comedy that requires complete attention at all times just to keep up with the dense plot’s twists and turns. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a New York Times crossword puzzle and Gilroy and his top-drawer production team deliver a glossy beautiful-looking film that’s easy on the eyes hitting locations from Dubai to Rome to New York City.
WHAT’S BAD?
Like any good puzzle it sometimes can be frustrating putting it all together and Gilroy’s habit of taking us back in time and then inching forward gets a little confusing even with the on-screen chyron pointing out where we are at any given moment. Stick with it though and you will be well-rewarded.
FAVORITE SCENE:
A scene near the end where the formula must be found scanned and faxed in a matter of minutes is sweat-inducing edge-of-your-seat moviemaking and it provides the ultimate opportunity for Roberts and Owen to take the “con” to the next level. Another where Roberts uses a thong to try and trick Owen into admitting an affair he never had is also priceless and gets right to the heart of the game-playing.
GO OUT AND GET POPCORN WHEN ...
Never. Stock up during the coming attractions. If you miss a moment of this entertaining romp you might never figure it all out.

Last weekend, Paramount Pictures International confirmed that it blew past the $1 Bbllion mark in international sales for 2008, reaching that benchmark six weeks faster than in 2007. Now, based on this weekend's estimates (June 20-22), it appears that Paramount has surpassed $1 billion in domestic ticket sales.
Despite the failure of Mike Myers' Love Guru, which managed only an estimated $14M this weekend, Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda added a likely $21.7M, Indiana Jones &amp; The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull generated about $8.4M and Iron Man picked up another $4M. That should be just enough to push the Melrose gang past the billion dollar mark.
Last year was a remarkable year for Paramount Pictures. Fueled by lucrative titles, many from the pipeline of Dreamworks, the studio reached $1 billion in domestic box office for the 2007 on July 9, earlier than any distributor ever surpassed that threshold. That amazing run was led by Shrek the Third, Transformers, Blades of Glory, Norbit, Disturbia and Dreamgirls, which were all products of the Spielberg-Katzenberg-Geffen triumvirate.
Kung Fu Panda will assure Paramount of its third consecutive $200 million grossing film, a record in itself, and now the studio has likely reached $1 billion domestic 17 days earlier than 2007.
Last year, Paramount led all Hollywood studios with $1.49 billion in domestic box office, but their second half was riddled with under-performing titles like Stardust ($38.6 million cume), Hot Rod ($13.9 million cume), The Heartbreak Kid ($36.7 million), Things We Lost in the Fire ($3.2 million cume) and Beowulf ($82.2 million cume).
Still set for release in 2008 for Paramount are the much buzzed-about Tropic Thunder in August, Disturbia director D.J. Caruso's reteaming with Shia LaBeouf in Eagle Eye in September, Dreamworks's Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa in November and David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, in December. With a lineup like that, Paramount has a virtual stranglehold on the market share title for a second consecutive year.

SUNDAY 9:00 a.m. (Pacific): Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway both have new all-time best opening weekends as Get Smart (Warner Bros) has scored an excellent $39.15M. The action-comedy delivered an estimated $13.5M on opening day, was up 5 percent on Saturday for $14.2M, and Warner Bros is anticipating an $11.45M Sunday.
For Carell , who steps into the shoes of Don Adams from the late '60s TV hit, Get Smart tops his previous best opening Evan Almighty.
ALL-TIME BEST STEVE CARELL LIVE ACTION OPENING WEEKENDS
1. Get Smart - $40M (estimate)
2. Evan Almighty - $31.19M
3. Anchorman - $28.41M
4. The 40 Year-Old Virgin - $21.42M
5. Dan in Real Life - $11.8M
For Hathaway, the Peter Segal-directed comedy eclipses 2006's The Devil Wears Prada.
ALL-TIME BEST ANNE HATHAWAY OPENING WEEKENDS
1. Get Smart - $40M (estimate)
2. The Devil Wears Prada - $27.53M
3. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement - $22.95M
4. The Princess Diaries - $22.86M
5. Ella Enchanted - $6.16M
The world of television has meant big dollars for Warner Bros this summer, first with the mega-hit Sex and the City and now Get Smart, which becomes the all-time fourth-best live action TV adaptation (non-sequel).
ALL-TIME BEST OPENINGS FOR LIVE-ACTION TV ADAPTATIONS (excluding sequels)
1. Sex and the City - $57.03M
2. Mission: Impossible - $45.43M
3. Charlie's Angels - $40.12M
4. Get Smart - $40M (estimate)
5. S.W.A.T. - $37M
6. The Dukes of Hazzard - $30.67M
7. The X-Files - $30.13M
8. Starsky &amp; Hutch - $28.1M
9. Wild, Wild West - $27.68M
10. Addams Family - $24.23M
There was much less box-office love for Mike Myers' new comedy Love Guru (Paramount), which will likely finish No. 4 for the day and for the weekend. The film has limped out of the gate with a disappointing $5M, and, even with the help of recording superstar Justin Timberlake and Jessica Alba, the poorly reviewed comedy will manage only $14M on its opening weekend. After back-to-back-to-back $100M+, and most likely $200M+, grossing movies, this represents a setback for Paramount (although the Dreamworks comedy Tropic Thunder, set for August, has a chance to be the biggest hit of the late-summer).
Myers' first non-Shrek movie since 2003's The Cat In the Hat will probably be only the fifth-best opening of his career.
ALL-TIME BEST LIVE ACTION MIKE MYERS OPENINGS
1. Austin Powers 3: Goldmember - $73M
2. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - $54.91M
3. The Cat in the Hat - $38.32M
4. Wayne's World - $18.12M
5. Love Guru - $14M (estimate)
Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks/Paramount), in its final pre-Wall-E (Disney) weekend, scored another $21.7M Friday-thru-Sunday and is headed for an estimated new cume of $155M+. Industry sources are telling me that Panda will likely finish its domestic run with $230M-$240M, which would be a spectacular showing.
Marvel's Incredible Hulk (Universal) has dipped over 60 percent to the No. 3 spot with only about $21.55M for its second weekend. After 10 days, the re-booted Edward Norton Hulk debut will be at about $96.5M domestic, putting it slightly behind the pace of Ang Lee's version of the big green guy from five years ago.
M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening (Fox) fell 67 percent to an estimated $10M on its second weekend. The fifth place finish edges the R-rated genre pic just over $50M domestic.
The best Per Theatre Average posted was for Picturehouse's Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, starring Abigail Breslin. At just five locations, the tween girl-fueled G-rated film generated over $44,000 per location as it prepares to go wide on July 2.
REVISED THREE-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW! Get Smart (Warner Bros) - $39.1 million, $10,012 PTA, $39.1 million cume
2. Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks) - $21.7 million, $5,354 PTA, $155.5 million cume
3. Incredible Hulk (Universal) - $21.5 million, $6,145 PTA, $96.4 million cume
4. NEW! The Love Guru (Paramount) - $14 million, $4,648 PTA, $14 million cume
5. The Happening (Fox) - $10 million, $3,4349 PTA, $50.2 million cume
6. Indiana Jones &amp; the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) - $8.4 million, $2,653 PTA, $290.8 million cume
7. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Sony) - $7.2 million, $2,196 PTA, $84 million cume
8. Sex and the City (Warner Bros.) - $6.4 million, $2,6647 PTA $132.3 million cume
9. Iron Man (Paramount) - $4 million, $2,093 PTA, $304.7 million cume
10. The Strangers (Rogue Releasing) - $1.9 million, $1,235 PTA, $49.5 million cume

FRIDAY 9:30 p.m. (Pacific): Warner Bros new action comedy Get Smart has easily won the battle of big studio comedies with $15M on Friday and a likely $40M opening weekend. The movie, adapted from the classic Mel Brooks-Buck Henry late ‘60s TV classic received decent reviews (51 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and 53 percent Positive on MetaCritic), and it is well on its way to one of the all-time best openings for a live action television adaptation.
The world of television has meant big dollars for Warner Bros this summer, first with the mega-hit Sex and the City and now Get Smart, which becomes the all-time fourth-best live action TV adaptation (non-sequel).
ALL-TIME BEST OPENINGS FOR LIVE-ACTION TV ADAPTATIONS (excluding sequels)
1. Sex and the City - $57.03M
2. Mission: Impossible - $45.43M
3. Charlie's Angels - $40.12M
4. Get Smart - $40M (estimate)
5. S.W.A.T. - $37M
6. The Dukes of Hazzard - $30.67M
7. The X-Files - $30.13M
8. Starsky &amp; Hutch - $28.1M
9. Wild, Wild West - $27.68M
10. Addams Family - $24.23M
The Peter Segal-directed comedy will likely also mark the all-time best openings for stars Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway.
ALL-TIME BEST STEVE CARELL LIVE ACTION OPENING WEEKENDS
1. Get Smart - $40M (estimate)
2. Evan Almighty - $31.19M
3. Anchorman - $28.41M
4. The 40 Year-Old Virgin - $21.42M
5. Dan in Real Life - $11.8M
ALL-TIME BEST ANNE HATHAWAY OPENING WEEKENDS
1. Get Smart - $40M (estimate)
2. The Devil Wears Prada - $27.53M
3. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement - $22.95M
4. The Princess Diaries - $22.86M
5. Ella Enchanted - $6.16M
There was much less box office love for Mike Myers’ new comedy Love Guru (Paramount), which will likely finish No. 4 for the day and for the weekend. The film has limped out of the gate with a disappointing $5M, and, even with the help of recording superstar Justin Timberlake and Jessica Alba, the poorly reviewed comedy will manage only $14M on its opening weekend. After back-to-back-to-back $100M+, and most likely $200M+ grossing movies, this represents a setback for Paramount (although the Dreamworks comedy Tropic Thunder, set for August, has a chance to be the biggest hit of the late-Summer).
Myers’ first non-Shrek movie since 2003’s The Cat In the Hat will probably be only the fifth-best opening of his career.
ALL-TIME BEST LIVE ACTION MIKE MYERS OPENINGS
1. Austin Powers 3: Goldmember - $73M
2. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - $54.91M
3. The Cat in the Hat - $38.32M
4. Wayne's World - $18.12M
5. Love Guru - $14M (estimate)
Marvel’s Incredible Hulk (Universal) has posted the No. 2 Friday gross with an estimated $7.25M, but that will translate to only about $22.5M for its second weekend. That is a huge 60 percent or so drop, and, after 10 days, the re-booted Edward Norton Hulk debut will be at about $97.41M domestic. That would put Incredible Hulk slightly behind the pace of Ang Lee's version of the big green guy five years ago.
Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks/Paramount), in its final pre-Wall-E (Disney) weekend, scored another $6.3M Friday and is headed for an estimated $21.75M three-day for a new cume of $155M+. Industry sources are telling me that Panda will likely finish its domestic run with $230M-$240M, which would be a spectacular showing.
M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening (Fox) fell to $3.2M or so on Friday, and the genre pic's second weekend take will likely be an estimated $10.25M. That would represent a 65 percent drop from last weekend while still rounding out the top five.
REVISED THREE-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW! Get Smart (Warner Bros) - $40 million, $10,228 PTA, $40 million cume
2. Incredible Hulk (Universal) - $22.5 million, $6,414 PTA, $97.41 million cume
3. Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks) ‘ $21.75 million, $5,366 PTA, $155.64 million cume
4. NEW! The Love Guru (Paramount) - $14 million, $4,648 PTA, $14 million cume
5. The Happening (Fox) - $10.25 million, $3,433 PTA, $50.51 million cume
6. Indiana Jones &amp; the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) ‘ $8.1 million, $2,554 PTA, $290.52 million cume
7. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Sony) - $7.32 million, $2,233 PTA, $84.1 million cume
8. Sex and the City (Warner Bros.) - $6.5 million, $2,662 PTA $132.42 million cume
9. Iron Man (Paramount) - $3.85 million, $2,014 PTA, $304.63 million cume
10. The Strangers (Rogue Releasing) - $2.24 million, $1,420 PTA, $49.87 million cume

Not much change in my weekend predictions from Monday’s early preview. Virtually everyone I talk to has Steve Carell’s Get Smart (Warner Bros) at $35M or so. If the number holds, it will be an excellent start, becoming Carell’s all-time best live action opening as an above-the-title star. His best to-date is last summer’s Evan Almighty, which managed just $31.2M.
The reviews are coming in with a positive lean. As of Thursday morning, Rotten Tomatoes has the late ‘60s TV adaptation at 53 percent Fresh and MetaCritic is scoring at 52 percent Positive. With a PG-13 rating, the movie has a chance to play to Baby Boomers, who are fans of the original show, Generation X’ers, who saw the reruns, and teens that know Carell from The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine. I am calling for $33M-$36M for Get Smart with a possible upside surprise in the cards.
Incredible Hulk (Universal), Marvel’s second self-financed and self-produced feature, is a lock for No. 2. With a solid A- CinemaScore rating from opening weekend and positive word-of-mouth, a 45 percent-50 percent drop is likely, paving the way for $24M-$27M.
The other new wide release this weekend is Paramount’s Love Guru, featuring the latest original character from Mike Myers. My sources tell me that the tracking remains soft. One of the world’s hottest women, Jessica Alba, should be a drawing card with the two Fantastic Four movies on her resume, which both opened to $50M+. Recording superstar and quickly rising actor Justin Timberlake will also bring Under 25’s to the multiplex, but reviews for Love Guru are scathing. I am revising my prediction range to $18M-$21M.
Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks/Paramount) has the animation audience all to itself for another week with Pixar’s Wall-E on the sidelines until next Friday. With Jack Black as the lead voice, roly-poly Po the Panda is headed for another $16-$19M and a new cume of about $150M. Paramount is well on its way to back-to-back-to-back $200M+ grossing movies with Iron Man followed by Indiana Jones &amp; the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull followed by Kung Fu Panda (although Love Guru will clearly snap that streak).
M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening will round out the top five with something along the lines of $14M-$17M. I am not a film critic, but I saw this R-rated genre picture last weekend, and in my estimation it is highly original and pretty chilling. The payoff is not perfect, but if you are looking for something a little darker in advance of next week’s much buzzed-about Wanted, The Happening is a good bet this weekend.
FINAL PREDICTIONS FOR WEEKEND OF JUNE 20
1. Get Smart (Warner Bros) - $35M
2. Incredible Hulk (Universal) - $27M
3. Love Guru (Paramount) - $20M
4. Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $18M
5. The Happening (Fox) - $16.75M
6. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Sony) - $9M
7. Indiana Jones &amp; The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (Paramount) - $8.75M
8. Sex and the City (Warner Bros) - $5.25M
9. Iron Man (Paramount) - $3.8M
10. The Strangers (Rogue) - $2.1M